Fusions-acquisitions et salariés: Les leçons de l'OPA de Schneider sur Télémécanique en 1988

Abstract

Hostile takeovers and workers. Strategic acquisition by Schneider Group of Télémécanique in 1988 Hostile takeovers are not well accepted by workers of target firms. Especially when they are also shareholders they are natural allies of the incumbent management in order to protect their interests. The case of the Schneider takeover on the Télémé canique in 1988 illustrates these propositions. It shows employees acting as "owners" of the firm, lobbying against the hostile takeover to protect their social model. The historical approach used in this article shows that the salaries, as well as the politicians at that time, did not understood the aim of the operation and its stake even if it was a long term industrial project. Until then jobs were not threaten, salaries were highly motivated to defend "their enterprise" and his social model. The strategy of Schneider was to focus on the electrical industry by separating from its non-strategic activities. This policy was given concrete form through strategic acquisition by Schneider Group of Télémécanique in 1988. Twenty years after Schneider is a world leader in energy management. © Lavoisier.